#UVA vs UIUC engineering

69 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

potent spoke
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Schools: University of Virginia and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Intended major: Aerospace E at UIUC. AE and EE double major at UVA
Similarities: Cost will be the roughly same, since I qualify for in-state tuition at both.

I live in Virginia I really really like UVA but I know their engineering school is not the best. I'm basically trying to weigh if it's worth it to give up a school I really like in order to go to a "better" school.

UVA
School 1 Pros:

  • All of my Dual Enrollment Credits are guarenteed to transfer, which opens up the door to double majors or doing a 5 year masters. (If I double major, it will be AE + EE)
  • Super close to home, love the weather, and I will already have some friends
  • More flexibility to change majors
  • Closer to DC. Idk how important this is but if I plan to pursue AE, most of the jobs will likely be in the defense industry, so maybe being near DC will help.
  • More general prestige (not really a factor for me but I might as well)

School 1 Cons:

  • Career fairs and services are kind of meh
  • Average starting salary is much lower than at UIUC (not sure how to interpret this statistic, or if it has any weight)
  • Required to live in a dorm first year (not a big deal)
  • Not allowed to have a car first year (also not a big deal)

UIUC
School 2 Pros:

  • Aerospace Department is 3x the size of UVA's
  • Higher ranked engineering program
  • I've heard a lot of great things about their career fairs
  • #1 Ranked Formula SAE team
  • I can choose to have my car and apartment first year (not a big deal)

School 2 Cons:

  • Half of my dual enrollment credits won't transfer
  • Very lengthy and unforgiving process if I choose to switch majors
  • Far from home and cold asf

Tiebreaking considerations:
If I choose UIUC over UVA, how much benefit will I actually get in terms of my career (salary) and potential for grad school admissions? I'm not sure which path I want to go down yet, so I want to keep grad school in mind.

simple harbor
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I'd go UVA :)

willow ginkgo
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I'd go UIUC :)

potent spoke
thorn cairn
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UVA is amazing, and they have an amazing engineering program

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the campus is great, i can assure you

simple harbor
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Reasons against UIUC:

  • larger department can mean harder to establish with professors
  • Engineering rank doesn't matter as long as the program is ABET accredited
  • Having credits transfer is a HUGE help, even if you don't pick up a second major
  • UIUC only seems better bc people focus on the rank imo, UVA sounds like it fits you better, which matters more imo
thorn cairn
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i think UVA will give you better connections that you may need to pursue a successful career

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well maybe im biased cuz i love the school sm

potent spoke
potent spoke
potent spoke
simple harbor
thorn cairn
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maybe im capping cuz i dont follow uiuc donations :p

potent spoke
simple harbor
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20% of USNews ranking is based off an ambiguous "peer assessment survey" - I tend to be very wary of "overall ranking" lists (and rankings in general) because many to me feel like name recognition and perception of the school (rather than how good the school actually is) heavily influence rankings

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To me it sounds like UVA is a better pick for you because the only real "pros" UIUC has is "good ranking" and career fairs

zenith star
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I toured both schools and the difference in equipment and research isn't even close. UIUC has way more resources than UVA. Grainger Engineering is no joke, and it's a top level program designed to turn out the best possible engineers. UVA engineering just doesn't compare on so many levels.

If all else equal, I would take UIUC in a heartbeat.

And UIUC has excellent grad school prospects according to the data.

potent spoke
zenith star
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for the uva one you can put in aerospace engineering into the major option

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I don’t want to go after UVA too much but for engineering Virginia Tech is definitely the prime option for in staters

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even then uiuc >

potent spoke
zenith star
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This is all assuming that you want to be the best engineer possible

potent spoke
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im considering VT too

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but my logic is that if im gonna go to VT, i might as well just go to UIUC

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scuffed ass logic but i really dont like vt

zenith star
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if you’re looking at a less technical future, then there’s nothing wrong with uva

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good careers result but not really in engineering

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my mom is from uva and she gave me the green light to diss their engineering school 🤣 (she was in the tour as well)

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ofc uva is strong at most everything else

potent spoke
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something interesting i found though is that on linkedin for aerospace engineers, when comparing UVA and UIUC, they had similar percentages of their employment rates for those top companies (lockheed, boeing etc)

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lowkey (and i really hope my irls dont find this), im just trynna justify going to UVA in my head, cause my girlfriend is going there

zenith star
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well that definitely is a reason

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and if you want to stay closer to home

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personally for me I do want to stay in the state but when comparing Virginia tech and uiuc, I definitely had to concede to the latter

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so that’s where I’ll probably end up

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the bias may already be kicking in kek

potent spoke
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we should link up if we both end up going

zenith star
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absolutely!

potent spoke
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im literally wearing my UIUC hoodie rn im being so fr

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LOL

zenith star
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yeah I’ve started decorating my stuff with uiuc stickers

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it’s quite an accomplishment, nice job!

potent spoke
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you as well!

zenith star
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I didn’t expect to get in kek

potent spoke
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your chess rating is terrifying

zenith star
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oh that… 😏

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actually I stopped playing when I was 13 and only picked it up again a month ago

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some stuff gets on hold due to academics but as a second semester senior I feel like having some fun again

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but thank you

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out of curiosity, how did you qualify for in state tuition at uiuc?

potent spoke
potent spoke
zenith star
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would show up to a tournament each month

potent spoke
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just wondering are you va resident?

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@zenith star

zenith star
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yeah, I live in northern

potent spoke
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can you shoot me a friend request?

zenith star
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sure!

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that's my bad, i had some privacy settings on

potent spoke
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@simple harbor the student faculty ratio of just the engineering department of both schools is basically the same. Would it still be beneficial to choose the smaller school?

simple harbor
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If the departmental ratios are the same then I'm not sure if the school overall being "smaller" effectively means anything